A reproduction of the 1949 New York performance of this
William Grant Still opera in collaboration with Langston Hughes and
Verna Arvey. Available on CD, this recording is a 50th anniversary
tribute to the first opera by an Afro-American to be staged by a major
American company. One of the first productions, with all of its
technical flaws, is presented here.

Many years ago a crisis was characterized in this country as "a
time to try men's (and, presumably, women's, also) souls." Today,
almost 2 1/2 centuries later, we are again in crisis and in need of a
revolution of conscience to restore the culture, arts, intellect,
morality, property rights and freedom from rapacity that is the
foundation of any advanced civilization.

We at William Grant Still Music are especially aware of the
criminality that has taken over in our era. A German company, possibly
a complex of companies, has pirated all of our CDs that we produced
through Cambria, and is selling them on the net, claiming that they are
the only source for the music of William Grant Still. (We have been in
business since 1934). People who buy the products from them are thus
breaking the law by receiving and holding stolen property. The FBI
promises to get involved if there is a public complaint. Our music business
may be mortally wounded unless the public gets involved by contacting
the FBI's Intellectual Property Rights Center, (866) 477-2060 to report
any known copyright infringements anywhere on the globe,

Moreover, the problem is so much greater than what we face at
WGSM. People download illegal files without a second thought, photocopy
books and music, without any concern for the families of artists,
writers and composers, and for future works that can not be brought
forth owing to their theft. Those who steal works under copyright are
also harming themselves, because a small theft is a chip off the edifice
of morality, and it is one step toward anarchy.

Because of the many attacks on copyrights, there are few book
stores, music stores and library services left in the U.s. Nor can our
young people read intelligently, or think logically. They put
non-functional, irrational words into sentences ("Like, you know, like,
what I'm saying, man,") so that the brain, which only improves through
logical use of the language, loses I.Q. points. The average person in
this country has 50% less intelligence than any laborer in Elizabethan
England. So, many the English won the Revolution after all.

So, what should we do? Work to promote government action against
copyright theft, and labor to improve our sad, ineffective copyright
laws in the U.S., which do not come up to the level of the worldwide
laws. We have let all of the great works of the Harlem Renaissance fall
into the public domain, because we do not grant perpetual copyrights.
W.C. Handy's Foundation can no longer support itself owing to the lack
of concern for the giants of Afro-American concert music. This is more
of a travesty than any incident of purported police brutality. I urge
all those who think that Afro-American culture and art is important, to
act in this crisis.